I spent an hour or so last night going through my sheet music to find suitable music to play at my friend's husband's funeral tomorrow. I've found that non-musicians don't have a clue when it comes to what they think musicians do. (I don't know why that surprises me, but it does.) I cannot tell you how many people at church are under the impression that I simply come in on Sunday morning, sit down, and begin to play whatever is placed in front of me. I'm sure that there are some extraordinarily talented pianists for whom practicing is an option, not a requirement, but I am not one of them. I like to be prepared ahead of time.

Anyway, as I was going through my vast collection of sheet music, it occurred to me that a piece of sheet music is a lot like a knitting pattern. You may think that's a bizarre comparison, but consider this:

1. Some pieces don't require much in the way of extra effort for me to play them. Obviously, a piece which I can play almost without thinking might be below my skill level, but the real gems are the ones that are easy to play but SOUND complicated. I liken those arrangements to knitting patterns that use some knitting sleight-of-hand which is easy to execute, but results in a finished object that looks like it took hours of work to complete.

2. Pianists have a saying about pieces that "lie well under the fingers." It means that they might be complicated, but they don't require the pianist to tie herself up in knots to play them. Think about those knitting patterns with techniques that require the knitter to twist their needles and yarn this way and that. They don't "lie well under the fingers," do they?

3. I have favorite arrangers, just as a lot of knitters have favorite designers. I'll buy anything arranged by a woman named Cindy Berry, for instance, because anything she arranges is going to be fun to play and won't require weeks of practice to work up, but it won't sound "easy," either.

4. Some weeks I haven't had time to practice, but I've got a few pieces I can pull out and play at a moment's notice. Those are like my favorite Oat Couture Pinwheel Afghan pattern, which is my go-to pattern when I need a quick baby shower gift.

5. I do like a challenge, and when I've got time to practice, I like to pull out an arrangement that is a bit beyond my current skill level. I work at it and work at it until I can play it, and bit by bit my skill level inches up.

I finally settled on some music last night. Funeral music needs to fit certain parameters: I have a couple of pieces that might work really well for a funeral, but they are what I call "theatre production" pieces and are a bit over-the-top for this particular gathering. I need pieces of a certain length, too, as I usually begin playing 15-20 minutes beforehand. And finally, I'm aiming for a certain mood. This particular family wants this service to be a celebration, so the last thing I want to do is play depressing arrangements. It's a balance.

So, there you are. Some quick thoughts about music and knitting. I love both.